Cyprus Blog Post 1 revision

  Cyprus Efforts with National Identity

National Identity, Nation, and Nationalism 

“National Identity,” as Anna Tryandafyllidou considered in the essay “National Identity and the ‘other,’ is described as the bond between one’s to one’s nation that gives a sense of belonging. A nation, described by Smith (1991, p. 14), is a territory that shares a common history, myths, public culture, legal rights, and a common economy, with duties shared by members. A nation can re-identify its identity to encourage separation from its past if it harms the state, or it can also reconnect with positives from its history. Nationalism is viewing a nation as superior, despite the detriment caused to another nation. Cyprus expresses “others” with relations to Turkey and Greece, and supports national identity regarding religion, the national language, and Cyprus’ use of national identity to profit.  

Others and Cyprus 

The “other” to a nation is another nation that holds many of the same qualities of its national identity, threatening another nation's national identity. An example includes nations with similar geological features, history, and religion, though they speak different languages. Trianfyllidou discusses othering under two contexts, known as significant others, including internal and external others. Internal others are groups, typically immigrant minorities, that were once a minority that became the majority. External others, though, are nations that threaten the significance of another’s identity. In Cyprus’ case, countries and regions that are considered others include Greece, Turkey, and Northern Cyprus. 

Southern and Northern Cyprus is only recognized by Turkey, with Turkey being viewed “as the protective, embracing and, even, authoritarian ‘mother’, while North Cyprus is mainly perceived to be her ‘baby’ that is developing, dependent and also needy,” (Jorgensen and Latif, p. 369). Northern Cyprus and Turkey have close relations with the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), which not only controls the security between the two nations but the international affairs. This causes heavy reliance on Turkey, threatening the independence between the two nations from Turkey’s perspective. Northern and Southern Cyprus are not recognized by the United Nations, however, so when Northern Cyprus is seeking to be viewed as independent from Turkey, it would only be from Turkey’s recognition. Turkey would be considered an external other, as Turkey’s national relation threatens “Northern Cyprus” from being fully “independent” from them. 

A nation relation recognized across the United Nations, however, is Greece’s relations with Cyprus. Cyprus and Greece have significant similarities regarding ethnic groups and language, with 98.8% of the population being Greek and 80.9% speaking Greek, as it is Cyprus’ official language. In 1959, Cyprus was considered an independent country and a part of the United Nations and the British Commonwealth. After Cyprus’ newfound independence, “agreements placed education under two parallel communal chambers, one for the Greek community and one for the Turkish community,” (Pashiardis p. 203). Greek culture dominates Cyprus with its relations to Greece, consuming much of Cyprus culture within the Greek community. With Cyprus’ close relations to Greece, as well as the nations being both recognized by the United Nations, rather than Northern Cyprus and Turkey’s relations, Greece would be considered an other to Cyprus. This relation would be considered an internal other to Cyprus, as Greek immigrant groups had overturned the national identity of Cyprus. 

Language

The official languages of Cyprus are Greek (80.9%) and Turkish (0.2%). It was not till 1960 that “the official languages of the Republic of Cyprus were declared to be Greek and Turkish,” (Merrilleees p. 5). Before then, the official language had become elvish although Greek and Turkish were still recognized in the administration. The language was recognized deeply within their national identity, as it represented national allegiance and a badge of cultural identity. Language was not only formed as a way to communicate, but to express pride in the Cypriot nation, thus, Cyprus had no more than three official languages. “The Cypriot Greek speech community is diglossic,” (Tsuplakou p.1), which, in simpler terms means that there are two different dialects of the same language. This is not to be confused with being bilingual, as that is two different languages being spoken by the same community of people. Under most circumstances, though, standard Greek is used in educational instances and formal writing and communication. 

Religion 

Religion in Cyprus is primarily Eastern Orthodox Christian, with 89.1%. This is also known in the Greek Orthodox Church, which, in short, claims to have followed the traditions, without change, of the early Christian Church formed by the apostles. It is also considered to be the “only true” Christian faith, in their perspective. The Orthodox Church of Cyprus stemmed during the Turkish and British rule. “…the Orthodox Church engages in many economic activities in Cyprus,” (Emilianides, 2). The church helps work towards funding different political activities, though, the funding is not always associated with the beliefs of the Archbishop. The Archbishop in Cyprus, is to be of high-ranked status from the Cypriots, following the president of the Republic. Religion becomes relevant to Cyprus, as “ the Republic of Cyprus does not provide funding to religions per se, significant religious assistance is, however, provided,” (Emilianides p.5). Under Circumstances that religious monuments need to be repaired, as a form of state aid, the Republic of Cyprus provides financial support.

Cyprus relies highly on tourism as a form of funding, with the Cypriot Tourism Organization expressing its identity to cater to tourists. While many nations use brochures to market to tourists, Cyprus relies heavily on tourist funds to contribute to their nation, as Cyprus averages 2315 million tourists a year, so “through various print or digital mediums, like daily newspapers, magazines, mobile devices or tablets,” (Zantides, pg.2), Cyprus can brand themselves to the masses, regardless of peoples’ primary use of exposure. Cyprus markets and profits in a diverse retrospect of ways, including "geographic references/location, cultural heritage, objects, and food/drinks,” (Zantides pg.2) though when catering concerning the geography of Cyprus, traction tends to exceed in the global market. Cyprus, being an island in the Middle East, poses beauty amongst its extravagant beaches and Mediterranean climate, with hot summers and cool winters (CIA World Factbook), and an assortment of mountains and central plains. Cyprus is ideal for those seeking out the common and stereotypical getaway destination, allowing Cypriot Tourism Organization to profit and cater to the masses that seek the “perfect getaway.” With Cyprus being popularized with tourism, dilemmas regarding traveling between northern and southern Cyprus arise. Because of the split between the two “states,” "Visitors arriving in the south from abroad can often obtain permission from the Government of Cyprus and from Turkish Cypriot officials to visit the north,” (cyprus), though those intending on departing from northern Cyprus or those who have luggage will most likely be prohibited from crossing. This conflict causes difficulty to those who seek to travel abroad to Cyprus and who want to expand their Cyprus trip to both the north and south. 

Conclusion 

Cyprus affiliates much of its identity with the neighboring nation Greece. Much of Greece and Cyprus’ identity is similar, with religion and language, as Greece is often affiliated as Cyprus’ “motherland country,” along with Turkey. Even with Cyprus' independence in 1960, positive affiliations are still apparent in the Cypriot-Greek relationship. Cyprus aligns its identity along with Greek culture, including religion, language, and education on Greek nature.

Word Count: 1,218

References: 

Bryant, R., Yakinthou, C. (2012). Cypriot Perceptions of Turkey. TESEV Foreign Policy Programme, 2(3), 5-103. https://library.fes.de/pdf-files/bueros/zypern/10617.pdf 

CIA World Factbook. (2024). Cyprus. In The World Factbook. Retrieved January 31, 2024, from https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/cyprus/#geography 

Cyprus. (1992). In Background Notes on Countries of the World 2003(1). https://web-p-ebscohost-com.proxy.seattleu.edu/ehost/detail/detail?vid=5&sid=1ac25f1b-db43-4db8-b6e8-0a0f4e4f354b@redis&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZSZzY29wZT1zaXRl#AN=9410170052&db=a9h 

Eryigit, N. (2018). A Comparison Between the Dominant Economic Actors of the Northern and Southern Cyprus. Ines Education and Social Science Congress 3, 1515-1520. https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Nimet-Eryigit/publication/350941581_A_COMPARISON_BETWEEN_THE_DOMINANT_ECONOMIC_ACTORS_OF_THE_NORTHERN_AND_SOUTHERN_CYPRUS/links/607a9042907dcf667ba463b0/A-COMPARISON-BETWEEN-THE-DOMINANT-ECONOMIC-ACTORS-OF-THE-NORTHERN-AND-SOUTHERN-CYPRUS.pdf

Jordan, P. (2014). NATION BRANDING: A TOOL FOR NATIONALISM? Journal of Baltic Studies, 45(3), 283–303. https://www.jstor.org/stable/26764050 

Jorgensen, A., & Latif, D. (2022). ‘Different than us’? Reciprocal perceptions of the societies in Turkey and North Cyprus. Mediterranean Politics, 47(3), 369-390  https://web-p-ebscohost-com.proxy.seattleu.edu/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=0&sid=268282a1-603c-493f-8078-4d4169751dad@redis

Pashiardis, P., & Tsiakiros, A., (2015). Cyprus. In Hörner, W., & Döbert, H., & Reuter, L., & Kopp, Botho. (Eds.), The Education Systems of Europe (173-186). Springer, Cham.  https://link.springer.com/referenceworkentry/10.1007/978-3-319-07473-3_11

Merrillees, R (1993). The Languages of Cyprus. In Hunt, Davis (Eds.), Centre D’etudes Chypriotes (pg. 3-17). Année. https://www.persee.fr/doc/cchyp_0761-8271_1993_num_20_2_1267

Tsuplakou, S (2006). Cyprus: The Language of Situation. Elsevier Ltd. https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Stavroula-Tsiplakou/publication/304041702_Cyprus_Language_Situation/links/5c4b8df4a6fdccd6b5c9785b/Cyprus-Language-Situation.pdf  

Triandafyllidou, A. (1998). National identity and the “other.” Ethnic and Racial Studies, 21(4), 593–612. https://doi.org/10.1080/014198798329784

Links to an external site.

 

Emilianides, A. (2011). The mutual Roles of Religion and State Cyprus.Kluwer: The Hague(1). 5. https://d1wqtxts1xzle7.cloudfront.net/32333913/The_Mutual_Roles_of_Religion_and_State_Cyprus-libre.pdf?1391572800=&response-content-disposition=inline;+filename=The_Mutual_Roles_of_Religion_and_State_i.pdf&Expires=1708037246&Signature=MEzX8YOpjFNnedk0Mfz8rCR-0ADNUwQcpfxmjAs8dWxHtoBUWutoUC7XGqeFdZOalLPFOfX3Adsz1t5FKT7ufLBHm636--6~uhJduxKYysiQXC3WHhUKgt98TOGbann4m3jvOpl8pymwBKB9KL74kkf0aVm9D7fWCsXs9GjGXwwfB1aZxC50Y21ae9-4UdwdbH1bWVtPwCwQklVDacwzH1h6JOyfAh3vT4cVppetVugfCvM9qoJso6K9Yd02bHUErvn4kPC6y2dxyN75fY6THR5-YcAhmWwPQB80wlOBtaJ4rVC5mVVcayySMOt7OTvbbycOoEyBgObnCMlQSEfZwA__&Key-Pair-Id=APKAJLOHF5GGSLRBV4ZA

Zantides, E. (2016). Looking inwards, designing outwards: national identity and print advertisements of the Cyprus Tourism Organization.Visual Studies, 31(3),1 https://web-p-ebscohost-com.proxy.seattleu.edu/ehost/detail/detail?vid=7&sid=e41d3b82-3a78-40e9-9b19-1390bc0e30d4@redis&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZSZzY29wZT1zaXRl#AN=117922883&db=a9h